There was a great round of rugby fixtures last week against University College School, Reading Blue Coat, Merchant Taylors' School and Holyport College; all our pupils gave their absolute all, which led to a lot of fantastic results. The Boat Club also hosted the inaugural 'Viking Challenge Cup' against Eton College and St Edward's Oxford, on a rainy but energetic Saturday.
1st XV Rugby v University College School (UCS)
The match against UCS started in heavy rain and the weather was to play a significant factor for both teams throughout the game. Following an early penalty, UCS took the lead in the first 5 minutes. After several phases of play and some solid defence by Shiplake, UCS won a lineout 10 metres from our try line. Having secured their own ball, they then drove over the line from close range and the try was then converted. 10-0 to UCS. Shiplake responded immediately to this setback. J Angell ran a strong line through the opposition defence, and a kick ahead allowed Shiplake to score their first try of the match. Minutes later a clearance kick from UCS was collected by B Rivett, who ran strongly to set up an attacking position. The ball was quickly recycled and O Frisby showed great pace to run in and score. The try was then converted by J Shortland. Half time score was 13-12 to UCS.
In the second half Shiplake continued to try and play their running game, despite the conditions. However, a number of drop balls and unforced errors allowed UCS to convert two more penalties. Resolute defence from the whole Shiplake team prevented any further tries being scored. Shiplake continued to try and run with the ball, but further errors in the difficult conditions meant there was no further score. The game finished 19-12 to UCS. This was a very frustrating result for Shiplake. In the future, whilst our natural inclination is to run with the ball, we need to recognise that the weather conditions may require a different approach.
Report by Mr S Beckett
3rd XV Rugby v Reading Blue Coat
Shiplake started the game with a couple of errors and dropped catches that lead to a lot of loose balls in our own half. However, soon we began having some control of the ball which led to some good running and hands from the backs. In particular, W Kayll ran some strong lines against the defence which lead to a pass to J Lewis who did a good offload to S Redding, who ended up making a superb break down the left hand side of the pitch beating many players on the way past. M Gaza offered great support and received the ball from S Redding to score in the corner. This try lifted the team, and we started playing rugby with more confidence and this showed when we were on the attack. Unfortunately, Reading Blue Coat managed to score a number of tries due to some powerful ball carriers. Which meant we were a few scores down at half-time. Shiplake couldn’t really recover from the first-half and ended up under the posts a few more times. Shiplake continued fighting throughout the second half, with continued work in both defence and attack from B Acton and J Stevenson respectively.
Final score: 49-5 to Reading Blue Coat.
Report by T Lynskey
U15A Rugby v University College School (UCS)
Shiplake College arrived on a wet, drizzly Saturday morning in London ready to continue their season's winning streak. The game kicked off and Shiplake put up a hard chase; this pace was continued and helped Shiplake score their first try from R O’Keefe with a fast line break. More excellent rucking and tackling were shown by C Moss, who and assisted R Logan to score once again. There were tries from J Rogers and F Woods who both scored their first try of the season. The second half began with a crunching hit from N Floyd which set the tone for the half. Shiplake kept the pressure on and this resulted in another try from F Wilson. A brilliant offload from B Burnett was given and a burst up the wing was made, but it wasn’t to be. Final score: 50-0 to Shiplake, we hope to continue this momentum into the next game against Mill Hill.
U15B Rugby v University College School (UCS)
Another weekend, and another fantastic performance (and win).
The opening 10 minutes saw a break in the weather and a chance for the mighty U15Bs to exhibit their handling skills - this soon led to the first try of the match, with D Henson going over from close range. After this, the rain came and the game became increasingly scrappy with both teams spilling the ball. This did however allow the impressive Z Morrison and H Wood to assert their dominance in the scrum, and a strike against the head allowed the backs to release the electric L O'Donohuge on the left wing for Shiplake's second try; J Durkan added the extras.
HT 12-0
A tremendous second half display, comparable to that of Japan on Sunday, saw joint men of the match, H Doyle and H Inch, combine in the centres to devastating effect - both scoring a try a piece. A F Fox turnover then led to L O'Donohuge scoring a second in the corner. C Keena provided great delivery from 9 throughout, and he was given clean ball thanks to some good work in the loose by L Byca, J Sommerville and J Dyason. Overall, a fantastic team performance and a good win against a resolute UCS.
Full time: 29-0 to Shiplake College
Report by Mr D Miller
U14A Rugby v University College School (UCS)
On a miserable day for quality rugby, Shiplake defied the conditions with some excellent handling and powerful running, and quickly rattled up five tries. The pick of the scores starting with a cross-field kick just outside the defensive 22m and finished off with some great support play.
The second half was much more even with the U14s seeking to address issues in its defensive structure during phase play. To a larger degree this problem was resolved. however, there is still much to work on in this department if the A team are not going to concede soft tries against a better quality of opposition.
Final score: 35-14 to Shiplake College
Reported by Mr G Woolner
U14C Rugby v Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
The return leg of the double-header against Merchant Taylors’ saw the U14Cs grind out a 34-14 victory in the mud and the rain. K Askey brought home another pair of tries, this time joined by right winger O Wrobel. This week’s captain W Forster lead by example, being first up after every re-start, and was rewarded with a try of his own for his efforts. H Palmer-Garrett's kicking continues to develop, slotting home two under difficult and slippery conditions. The way in which the group has come together as a team over only seven weeks is really impressive, and a great deal of pride should be felt by all involved.
Report by Mr G Woolner
U13B Rugby v St Joseph's College
The U13B team should be very proud of their efforts against a strong and powerful St Joseph's A team. Shiplake really had to step up their standard as the first half was dominated by St Joseph's who had some fantastic runners that physically out classed us. However, the second half was much closer and I was very impressed by how Shiplake responded and to score more tries than our opposition in this half which was very pleasing. C Davey, back from injury, scored three tries and was backed up by an overall strong second half performance by the team.
Report by Mr P Jones
U12A Rugby v Our Lady's Abingdon (OLA) U13A
The U12A team built upon the solid foundations of their successful festival at Lord Wandsworth College last weekend, putting in a gritty display in trying conditions. The victory was founded upon some excellent tackling across the whole team, and in attack there was a willingness to offload effectively and exploit gaps in the opposing defensive line with some powerful running. An excellent team performance.
Report by Mr N Brown
U12B Rugby v Our Lady's Abingdon (OLA) U13B
The U12B team put in a strong performance against a spirited OLA team in a wet and challenging afternoon. Although on this occasion the result did not quite go the way for Shiplake, the team should be very proud of their efforts with the final score being 5-3 to OLA. Whilst it was very much a team effort with many boys really increasing their rugby development our man of the match was a standout T Stalder who scored a hat trick of tries and worked tirelessly. Also worth mentioning was the fierce tackling from H Carlsson and F Bakkie.
Report by N Brown
Rowing - The Viking Challenge Cup
On Saturday, for the first time ever, we hosted Eton College and St Edward's School for a private match named the Viking Challenge Cup. The match was a Head style race over 2.7km starting at Sonning and finishing at the Phillimore Island just downstream of the boathouse. The match consisted of two divisions, the first had 60 crews competing and the second had 45 crews. The trophy was to be awarded to the school that had the best team results by taking their median result from all their crews' times. Every boat was contributing to the end result. Despite the poor weather the event ran very smoothly and all three schools had some great racing. The end result had Shiplake College winning the team trophy followed by St Edward's and then Eton College. Full results of all the crews can be found here. We would like to thank both schools for attending the Viking Challenge Cup and we hope they will return again next year. Thank you to the coaches from all the schools for helping out and enabling the event to run so smoothly. Thank you to our parents' support group for manning the refreshments tent on the day and providing the much needed warm drinks. A special mention must go to the Old Viking Society for donating the wonderful Viking Challenge Cup trophy for this event, we appreciate their generosity and hope this trophy will be competed for year after year.
Other Results
2nd XV Rugby won 32-14 v University College School (UCS)
U16 XV Rugby lost 47-0 v Holyport College
U16 XV Rugby won 40-0 v Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
U15C Rugby lost 26-0 v Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
U14B Rugby lost 14-5 v University College School (UCS)
